2017's COLOR OF THE YEAR

2017's COLOR OF THE YEAR

Submitted by shopkatre on Dec 26, 2016.

It was only when I joined social media that I learned there actually was a Color of the Year (I thought it was something students invented!). Truth be told, aside from skimming a couple of articles about it when it gets announced around December of each year, I did not pay much attention to it. Then I joined Katre and it was then that I realized the significance of the Color of the Year to industries like fashion, home, beauty, architecture, food, and product design.

Pantone is the standard language for color communication from designer to manufacturer to retailer to customer. It is the go-to reference globally so that whatever shade of, say, green you want you will get. Its system is used to ensure color matching across industries worldwide. The company first came up with a color of the year in 2000. Twice a year, they gather representatives from the different countries’ color-standard groups to pick the color of the year. The selection is done in a drab, colorless room in a secret city somewhere in Europe. The hue these experts feel which embodies the current global cultural climate will be named the color of the year.

For 2017, the Color of the Year is Greenery (or Pantone 15-0343). It “is a fresh and zesty yellow-green shade... illustrative of flourishing foliage and the lushness of the great outdoors.” Technology and modern life, while making life much more comfortable, has also taken so much from us. Greenery tells us “to take a deep breath, oxygenate and reinvigorate”.

According to Leatrice Eiseman, Executive Director of the Pantone Color Institute, Greenery, nature’s neutral, “symbolizes the reconnection we seek with nature, one another and a larger purpose.”

In an interview with Forbes, Laurie Pressman, Pantone Color Institute’s Vice president, said that Greenery taps into minimalism, a growing global trend. The decision to choose Greenery was partly because of a motto by fashion designer Vivienne Westwood (her name might ring a bell if you were a fan of this little show called Sex and the City), “Buy less, choose well, make it last.” (We love this quote! So Katre!)

So how do we incorporate this in our life?

A furniture is a great way... (Photo: Prosser Drawer Chest from Vanguard Furniture)

And an appliance, too. (Photo: Kitchenaid)

But because not all might want to redecorate or buy new home stuff, just adding details like this succulent centerpiece will go a long way.

The Color of the Year is about a revived, restored, and renewed life. This 2017, let’s aim for that!